Efficiency as a Regulatory Goal in Healthcare Law

This chapter analyses the relationship between efficiency and fair access to healthcare. The principle of efficiency is one of the guiding principles in the Swiss Health Insurance Act. However, the regulatory framework around the Swiss mandatory healthcare system is equally concerned with the access of sick persons to needed medical care. The fact that the Health Insurance Act pursues these two regulatory goals raises the question of whether there is a potential goal conflict between efficiency and fair access to healthcare. This chapter therefore examines in depth how the Swiss Health Insurance Act strikes a balance between the two regulatory goals. Finally, it will be shown that the relationship between efficiency and fair access to healthcare is much more complex than a simple trade-off. It is ultimately a matter of balancing interests and giving different weight to different objectives.